Chiapas, the southern-most state in Mexico, is coming into its own as a tourism destination once again. Tourism to Chiapas hit a snag back in the 1990s, when the region was making headlines as the base for the Zapatista movement. However, current-day Chiapas is being celebrated for its natural beauty, including waterfalls to rival those in Hawaii, and for its authentic colonial-era cities, such as San Cristobal de las Casas and Comitan de Dominguez.
Chiapas recently won the bid to serve as the host destination of the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s (ATTA) eighth annual Adventure Travel World Summit, which will be held Oct. 17-20, 2011 in San Cristobal.
“The summit ties in directly with Mexico’s overall tourism strategy because we want to complement the world’s understanding of Mexico as a sun and beach destination to show a side of Mexico that is even more exotic and diverse naturally and culturally,” said Antonio del Rosal, marketing coordinator for the Mexico Tourism Board. “For years, we have witnessed the bottom-line positive effects of the ATTA’s impact on destinations which have previously hosted summits, including Brazil, Quebec and Norway, and we believe such global attention on Chiapas next year will help usher in a new era of responsible tourism for Mexico.”
Partners for the 2011 conference include the Chiapas Convention and Visitors Bureau, the State Government of Chiapas, the Tourism Ministry of Mexico and the Mexico Tourism Promotion Board.
Established in 1990, Seattle-based ATTA is a global membership organization dedicated to unifying, networking, professionalizing, promoting and responsibly growing the adventure travel market. With the 2011 summit, ATTA and its summit delegates — who are primarily tour operators, destination marketing organizations, tourism boards, media, agents, adventure lodges, and service organizations — aim to influence the manner in which adventure travel is introduced, executed and sustained in any given destination worldwide.
The Details
Adventure Travel Trade Associationwww.adventuretravel.bizAdventure Travel World Summit
www.adventuretravelworldsummit.com
Early bird registration for the 2011 ATTA conference ends on April
